Victory In Oregon: Closing The "Boyfriend Loophole"

This week marks another great victory for gun regulation in the state of Oregon.  Governor Brown signed into law House Bill 4145.

The crowd as Governor Brown signs HB4145

In Oregon, it was already illegal for someone to own or possess guns if they were convicted of domestic violence against spouses, former spouses, someone they cohabit with, unmarried parents of their child, someone they've had sexual relations with whom they are cohabiting with, or someone they are blood relatives with.  Seems pretty broad, right? 

Unfortunately, it excluded those who were simply intimate partners who didn't cohabit.  In other words, the abusive boyfriend who is convicted of stalking or abusing his girlfriend. Thus, the "boyfriend loophole."

HB 4145 closes this loophole. The bill also now mandates that local law enforcement is notified when a prohibited person attempts to purchase a gun and fails a background check.

According to the Oregon Health Authority:

• From 2003 to 2012,  256 people were killed in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Oregon.
• Most homicide victims were women and children.
• More than 80% of female victims of intimate partner homicide were killed by their current spouses or boyfriends.
• Most male victims are killed by someone other than an intimate partner.
• Firearms are a common mechanism of death among IPV-related homicides.

“Today is a huge victory for Oregon families,” said Penny Okamoto, executive director of Ceasefire Oregon. “Convicted stalkers and abusers will no longer be able to purchase or possess guns. In addition, law enforcement now has the tools necessary to help prosecute prohibited purchasers who attempt to buy firearms illegally.”

Extremist pro-gun groups attempted to argue that a disgruntled girlfriend need only accuse her ex of abuse and his gun rights would be wrongly stripped from him. But that's a lie. They still have to be convicted of stalking or domestic abuse first.

HERE is a video of Governor Brown signing the bill into law outside the state Capitol, surrounded by hundreds of supporters including, in largest part, passionate teenagers who took off from their school day to show their support:



Both local and national gun control groups were pleased with the bill’s passage into law. “Today Oregon became a safer place to live,” said former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. “Guns and domestic violence are a deadly, tragic mix, something that Oregonians know all too well.”

To learn more about this new law, and related statistics, please visit the Ceasefire Oregon page for it, here:  https://www.ceasefireoregon.org/bills/hb4145/ 

Our thanks goes out to the Governor, the sponsors and supporters of this bill. Together, we are making a new trajectory for our society away from gun violence.

Oregon legislators pass bipartisan bill to reduce suicide and domestic violence deaths

A statement from Ceasefire Oregon:

Today the Oregon legislature passed SB 719, the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) bill, which allows families and law enforcement to prevent tragedies by petitioning a court to temporarily suspend a person’s access to firearms and other dangerous weapons. The bill, cosponsored by Senator Boquist and Senator Burdick, is expected to be signed into law by Governor Kate Brown.

Oregonians now have an important tool to help reduce suicide, domestic violence, and shootings.

“People who are thinking of killing themselves or harming others often often show signs or declare their intentions well before committing the act. The first people to see those signs are often family members,” stated Joanne Skirving, president of Ceasefire Oregon. “An ERPO gives families and law enforcement a chance to intervene and perhaps prevent a tragedy. In Oregon, where suicide is 85% of all gunshot deaths, temporarily removing access to guns is especially important to prevent suicide.”

Washington state voters passed Initiative 14911, an ERPO law, in November 2016 by a 40 point margin (70% to 30%). Indiana and Connecticut2 also have versions of ERPO. In 2014, California passed AB 1014,3 called a Gun Violence Restraining Order, in response to a killing rampage earlier that year in Isla Vista.

Jenna Yuille of Americans for Responsible Solutions noted, “In 1999, Connecticut became the first state to pass a similar law and they've seen life-saving results. In the first 14 years of its implementation, police issued 762 orders, which helped save dozens of lives.4 We thank Senators Boquist and Burdick for their efforts to make ERPO a reality in Oregon.”

Once an ERPO has been filed, a court must find clear and convincing evidence that an individual is threatening harm to self or others, before the court can order the respondent to temporarily surrender any guns to the police. The respondent will not be able to buy, sell, or possess other firearms for a temporary period of time.

Penny Okamoto, executive director of Ceasefire Oregon explained the ERPO due process protections. “To protect the rights of the respondent, the bill establishes procedures for the respondent to request a hearing. The burden of proof is on the petitioner to show clear and convincing evidence.”  Okamoto added, “ERPOs are not to be taken lightly. False applications of ERPO or violation of ERPO is punishable by one year’s imprisonment, $6,250 fine or both.”

Passage of this bill has been a bipartisan effort across Oregon.

“Oregon continues to show that we can move past partisanship to find common ground when it comes to gun safety,” said Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety President Jenn Lynch. “Building on our bipartisan work in 2015 to address the nexus between domestic violence and gun violence, this legislation shows how leaders can move past political posturing to find real solutions to make our communities safer.”

Passing this bill is the culmination of work by many gun violence prevention advocates in Oregon including the family of Laura Magee, Melissa Keyser, Central Coast Ceasefire Oregon, Ceasefire Oregon, Americans for Responsible Solutions, the Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety, Gun Owners for Responsible Ownership, League of Women Voters of Oregon, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Oregon Brady Campaign, Pastor Mark Knutson, Rev. Lynne Smouse Lopez, Rev. Chuck Currie, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Moms Demand Action, and Everytown for Gun Safety and thousands of individual gun violence prevention advocates across Oregon.

1. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/extreme-risk-protection-order-initiative-1491/
2. https://www.thetrace.org/2016/09/gun-violence-restraining-order-suicide-reduction-connecticut/
3. http://smartgunlaws.org/californias-new-gun-violence-restraining-order-law/
4. Swanson, Jeffrey W. and Norko, Michael and Lin, Hsiu-Ju and Alanis-Hirsch, Kelly and Frisman, Linda and Baranoski, Madelon and Easter, Michele and Gilbert, Allison and Swartz, Marvin and Bonnie, Richard J., Implementation and Effectiveness of Connecticut's Risk-Based Gun Removal Law: Does it Prevent Suicides? (August 24, 2016). Law and Contemporary Problems, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=28288

Oregon Governor Kate Brown's Initiative To Reduce Gun Violence

A statement from Ceasefire Oregon...

Ceasefire Oregon is proud to be part of Governor Brown's new initiative to reduce gun violence.

Governor Brown's initiative includes:

• Prohibiting purchases of extended-capacity magazines. This type of ammunition enables shooters to fire 10, 30 or even 50 bullets before stopping to reload the gun.  
• Expanding the types of relationships that qualify under domestic violence by closing the "boyfriend loophole." This legislation will ensure that people convicted of certain domestic violence and stalking crimes will no longer have access to firearms. 
• Closing the Charleston loophole so individuals who should not own a gun are not able to buy one simply because authorities were unable to complete a background check in a few days.
• Strengthening existing law through executive order to give law enforcement the tools needed to track and analyze gun transactions.
• Establishing a work group to review and assess firearms-related domestic violence offenses.
• Directing the Oregon Health Authority, through executive action, to report annually on gun violence, its effect of public health and to recommend policies to reduce gun violence in Oregon.

In addition, Governor Brown calls upon Congress to end gun violence by:

• Banning assault weapons and extended-capacity magazines. (S. 4269)
• Strengthening anti-terrorist legislation so individuals on the FBI's watch list are prohibited from purchasing a firearm in the United States.  (H.R. 1076)

Governor Brown's actions are strong, positive steps we can take to stop the gun violence that we witness daily. Please call her office now at (503) 378-4582 to thank her. 

   

To stay up to date on the Governor's actions and to learn what you can do to stop gun violence, visit our website at ceasefireoregon.org and encourage your friends to do the same.

   

Working together, we can put an end to the scourge of gun violence. 

Addendum:  The transcript of Gov. Brown's speech can be found HERE.  You can find an additional fact sheet of Gov. Brown's "Oregonians United to End Gun Violence" announcement HERE.

Oregon Is Taking A Decisive Step In Protecting Women Against Domestic Violence Shootings

(UPDATED -- See below)

Guns and domestic violence go hand-in-hand.  Here in Oregon, 55-71% of domestic violence murder victims are shot, and 44% of women murdered with guns in the United States were killed by a current or former intimate partner.

And yet, Oregon is one of the states with most lax gun laws regarding protecting women from domestic violence shootings.  Here in Oregon, convicted stalkers can still keep their guns, as can those who have a restraining order.  And though a felony domestic assault can stop a husband from owning a gun if he abuses his spouse, boyfriends and domestic partners with misdemeanor domestic assault convictions don't count; they can still own a gun.

This issue touches me personally.  I have one friend whose abusive husband held a gun to her head, execution-style, and threatened to kill her.  Another friend lost her sister in a shooting by an abusive husband.  And there are other cases that I don't mention due to privacy of the victims.

Here are just a few recent cases of domestic violence shootings in Oregon so far this year.:

• January 25, Oregon City, Oregon -- 55-year old Timothy Oliver Moffatt's wife had a restraining order again him after harassment and assault. But he followed her in his car, then shot her multiple times before shooting himself.  Both were in critical condition.
•  April 23, Portland, Oregon -- Police responded to find that 57-year old John Grant Coffey shot his wife to death during a domestic disturbance.
• May 20, Medford, Oregon -- 28-year-old Charles Perowski shot and killed his 30-year-old wife, Jessica Thompson, before he turning the gun on himself in a suicide.  Their 12 year old daughter and 9 year old son were in the home.
• June 6, Gresham, Oregon -- 44-year old Gerardo Gomez Ventura shot and killed his wife.
• June 9, Sandy, Oregon -- 29-year-old Stephen Burlison threatened his girlfriend with a gun.  The woman's father pulled out a gun of his own.  Burlison fled, fired a bb gun at the pair, then was in a chase with police, firing at them, before being captured.

And many more make headlines every week around the nation.  How many of these cases could have been prevented if the state had done a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of violent spouses and partners?

Now Oregon has taken a step in preventing domestic violence shootings.

Things are about to change, thanks to Oregon Senate Bill 525.  This bill has been passed in both the Senate and the House, with bi-partisan support passing the House 51-8, and now goes to the Governor, who is expected to sign it.  It is modeled after the recently-passed California "Gun Violence Restraining Order" law.



What does the bill do? This bill will prohibit possession of a firearm or ammunition by a person with a restraining order protecting intimate partners or children of intimate partners, or people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes against family members.  

And since restraining orders are temporary, so too is the prohibition of gun ownership in those cases.  If they clear their name, their rights are restored.

The NRA, and the GOP leadership they pay, oppose these measures.  They prefer to keep arming the abusers.  Any gun sale is a good one to them.  Follow the money.  This, despite the fact that 68% of GOP voters support these laws, as well as 71% of women.

But I guess it's not surprising that the gun lobby would be out of touch.  They've been supportive of the abusers for years.  

The NRA and the Gun Owners of America have said such laws "stigmatize" those poor, violent, gun-owning wife-beaters. We wouldn't want that, would we?  I mean, the right of a wife-beater to own a gun must surely trump the lives and welfare of their wives, right?

Consider also the Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF), the "no compromise" gun lobby in Oregon, which opposes the bill because people with restraining orders haven't yet been convicted of a crime and have only been charged through "assumptions."  Nevermind that a judge weighed the evidence and deemed that person dangerous enough to tell them to keep their distance.

But then, OFF has never been one to respect women.  Consider, for instance, a recent post to the OFF Facebook page, describing the female representatives of Moms Demand Action Against Gun Violence as "prostitutes of the anti-gun movement" as well as "Stepford Wives," "zombies," and "robots."  (see screencapture above, left).

And in another OFF Facebook posting, they described female members of Ceasefire Oregon as "Bloomberg whores" as well as "liars" belonging to a "coven."  (see screencapture at right)

These sexist, arrogant, and crude attempts to belittle women are part and parcel of the gun rights movement.  

I'm happy, at least, that Oregon legislators have seen past it and done what is right to create a safer environment for Oregon women.  Now, we need to extend that to the rest of the nation!

Ceasefire Oregon would like to thank the thoughtful legislators who voted for this bill.  Now, on to the Governor!

UPDATE (6/18/15):  Governor Brown has now signed the bill in to law!  Our thanks go out to the Governor and all the legislators and volunteers who made it happen.  Domestic violence victims throughout Oregon will be safer now.  The bill goes into effect January 1, 2016.

Addendum (6/19/15):  Get the statistics and facts on domestic violence, here:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/06/us/domestic-intimate-partner-violence-fast-facts/